Setting milestones

Gwynn Hobbs inducted into UNLV’s hall of fame

FRUITLAND, N.M.

In her very first basketball game, Gwynn Hobbs wrestled the basketball out of a teammate’s hand and drove down the lane for a layup.

She was in the third grade, and it was then that her mother Loretta Hobbs knew her daughter was destined to be a great basketball player.

“They were tiny, but even then she was aggressive out there on the court,” she said. “She knew what she was doing because she used to watch her uncle play a lot…she was aggressive.”

That aggression, along with a long list of characteristics, led Hobbs to a high school state title and to become a Division I recruit.

Now, decades later, Gwynn Grant (maiden name Hobbs) has been selected for the University of Nevada Las Vegas Athletic Hall of Fame. She will be formally inducted on May 4 at the Strip View Pavilion at the Thomas & Mack Center on the UNLV campus. The event is open to the public and tickets are $125 each.

Grant said the news came to her as a long-awaited surprise. Having played alongside other Division I players such as Ryneldi Becenti, who was inducted into the Arizona State University Hall of Fame in 2013, Grant said she had hoped to leave her mark in college basketball as well.

“It was a big deal. When Ryneldi told me she was getting inducted at ASU, I always thought it would be nice if I would get inducted. I thought I deserved it too,” Grant said. “When I got the phone call I was excited. It was really exciting to hear I was inducted. It felt like it was a big accomplishment, a dream, a goal.”

Grant, who is originally from Ganado, Arizona, attended Navajo Academy (now Navajo Preparatory School) from 1987-1991. She was an all-star player and led the team to a state title her senior year in 1991.

She was a top recruit in the state and the country but chose to hang her hat at UNLV. With deep ties to her roots, and feeling like she belonged among her new teammates, she said it was the best choice she could have made.

“I chose UNLV because it was closer to home and my parents could come watch,” she said. “I was really comfortable with the coaches there and with the program. I thought I’d fit in real well with the program.”

Grant and UNLV fit like a glove. With some upper classmen having graduated, there was plenty of room for Grant to play and shine.

She wanted to make her mark and was pretty certain she did. She said it wasn’t enough to get recruited by a Division I school, she wanted to make herself and her abilities known.
“I think I came in and made an impact on the team and program. It was a goal that I had set for myself to become one of the best at the college level,” she said. “I worked pretty hard to try and meet those goals.”

At 40.6 percent, Grant is considered the “most accurate three-point shooter in Lady Rebel history.”

She was a three-time All-Big West Conference honoree guard and earned a spot on the first team in both 1994 and 1995.

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